Senate Republicans, please repeat after me: Chuck Schumer's political crisis does not equate to an emergency for us. Do not break the glass to rescue Democrats from themselves.
An understandably frustrated Donald Trump has a different perspective. He wants Congress to start funding the government, despite the opportunities the Schumer Shutdown theoretically provides him to "drain the swamp." He sees the looming SNAP crisis and probably figures that it won't do either party any favors, and prefers to jam the CR through the Senate with a rule change rather than a Schumer capitulation:
This debate has quietly simmered on the Right ever since the shutdown began. Some see this as an opportunity to carve out a very limited exception for "clean" CRs that will remove this hostaging tactic for good, and that is a fair point. Others argue that this will let Schumer off the hook in this particular instance, but also set up a path where a party in power can simply skip budgeting altogether and operate off of clean CRs as long as they control both the Senate and the White House. I made both of those arguments earlier this month.
Senate Republicans oppose the idea, or at least enough of them do to matter. In a meeting with J.D. Vance this week, the caucus asked the VP to tell Trump to back off his demands to alter the filibuster again, as well as his complaints about the "blue slip" process. In return, Vance told the Senate GOP caucus to block efforts to pass smaller funding bills targeting specific programs, including SNAP:
What to watch: Vance told senators early in his remarks not to hold so-called "rifle-shot" votes on limited funding bills — even for SNAP, sources said.
- He argued that Democrats should own the growing shutdown chaos, and that the momentum was with the GOP.
- He also said that they do not want the House coming back.
The latter message came through loudly and clearly in the lower chamber. Speaker Mike Johnson told Fox News this morning that the House would not return unless and until Schumer and Senate Dems finally allowed a floor vote on the clean CR and government reopened:
House Speaker Mike Johnson said House won’t reconvene until the government is reopened. pic.twitter.com/e1JgNmWRtT
— Open Source Intel (@Osint613) October 31, 2025
That would make it impossible for Senate Dems to force negotiations. Any bill they produce would have to get adopted by the House, and if Johnson sticks to his guns, the House won't be available until the clean CR passes.
There is no longer any hope of a resolution before SNAP benefits are due to process on Saturday. Looks like underprivileged Americans will have to wait at least a few more days to go shopping, thanks to Schumer the Grinch. Thune sent the Senate home for the Halloween weekend, since it became clear that Schumer plans to extend his obstruction past the elections in Virginia and New Jersey on Tuesday. Going home, however, got more complicated than usual, Roll Call reports:
As senators headed for the exits Thursday, those flying back to their home states were directly confronted by the escalating pain of the sprawling shutdown. Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, the preferred airport of many lawmakers, was under a ground delay due to staffing issues, with an average 90-minute wait, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.
During the 35-day government shutdown in the first Trump administration, flight delays were a key pain point that led to the logjam break. And the list of people impacted by Thursday’s delays included Thune himself. He predicted that these delays are “going to intensify, increase and get worse.”
And he added: “That’s what happens when you have a government shutdown.”
In other words, FAFO, Senate Dems. File your complaints in the Senate Minority Leader's office. You may be waiting on hold or in line a very long time.
Update: It didn't take long for Thune to throw cold water on the proposal, Politico reports:
Ryan Wrasse, a spokesperson for the South Dakota Republican, said in a statement on Friday that “Leader Thune’s position on the importance of the legislative filibuster is unchanged.”
Kate Noyes — a spokesperson for Sen. John Barrasso of Wyoming, the No. 2 GOP leader — said on Friday his position in support of the legislative filibuster also hasn’t changed.
Speaker Mike Johnson, who has no direct role in Senate affairs but occupies a key role in managing the shutdown, also struck a cautionary note in comments to reporters Friday.
He called the filibuster a “Senate chamber issue” but added that it “has traditionally been viewed as a very important safeguard.”
As Napoleon once advised: "Never interfere with an enemy in the process of destroying himself." Sun Tzu said something similar, if I recall correctly, which means that this wisdom has been broadly acknowledged. No need to dispute it at this point.
Editor’s Note: The Schumer Shutdown is here. Rather than put the American people first, Chuck Schumer and the radical Democrats forced a government shutdown for healthcare for illegals. They own this.
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